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Doctor Who 50th anniversary teaser trailer: the best of what you may have missed

Saturday's trailer celebrating 50 years of Doctor Who was packed full of subtle, obscure treats...

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Written By

Radio Times Staff

5:31 PM, 21 October 2013

With almost every frame flooded with blink-and-you’ll-miss-‘em trinkets from the show’s past, present and future, last Saturday’s 50th anniversary trailer was the sort of thing that could only have been made for a fanbase as fervent as Doctor Who’s.

Over the weekend fans have been rewinding, zooming, freeze-framing and arguing until they’re Tardis-blue in the face to see what they can (and can’t) see. Here are a few of the best, blurry spots.

Fez, Roboform helmet, Clockwork Android mask and beyond

The opening shot is a treasure trove of Doctor Who memorabilia. Amongst the haul is Matt Smith’s famously cool fez at the front, while the helmet of a Roboform from The Runaway Bride, a mask of a Clockwork Android from The Girl in the Fireplace and a small, wooden Yeti from recently rediscovered second-Doctor adventure The Web of Fear peer out from a shelf on the left.

Fob watch

As the camera swoops around first Doctor William Hartnell, the tenth Doctor’s Gallifreyan fob watch, which contained his supressed Time Lord self in 2007 episode Human Nature, floats just by Hieronymus's mask.

Cloven Hoof sign

As a Unit solider is exterminated, we catch a glimpse of a sign from the Cloven Hoof, the pub in Devil’s End, the setting of 1971’s The Daemons.

Tom Baker’s scarf

The fourth Doctor falling amongst a cloud of jelly babies might seem pretty obvious, but what isn’t is that Tom Baker’s famous scarf is a 24ft version, even longer than the original, that was knitted especially for the trailer.

"No more"

Well, this is new. Scrawled in the style of "BAD WOLF", we are teased with a piece of graffiti: "NO MORE". But no more what? No more running? No more bow-ties? No more regenerations after Peter Capaldi...? We’ll just have to wait and see.

17162311

A clever touch. What may seem at first to be a hint at the future is actually a big tribute to the first episode, An Unearthly Child, which began transmission on the BBC at 17.16 precisely on 23 November 1963.

Bessie

The third Doctor's beloved yellow roadster, first seen in Doctor Who and the Silurians (1970), drives past the tenth Doctor in a nifty cameo.

Mystery man

Now, this is interesting. A mystery figure is seen from behind as the camera swoops up to the tenth Doctor. Is that a gun holster he's wearing, and perhaps an earpiece? Is it too much of a stretch to wonder if this could be a CIA agent, a la The Impossible Astronaut and Day of the Moon? And what's with that weird spooky hand. So many questions...